What is your impression of how Judaism and/or Jewish institutions approach mental health, either historically or today?
But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously [lit. "But guard your self and guard your soul diligently"]...
What is the difference between guarding your self and guarding your soul?
Why does the Torah mention both?
Look out for yourself and guard your life exceedingly. “Guard yourself” means look after your physical body. It does not add “exceedingly” as it does after the second part of the verse which refers to guarding one’s soul, because one must be even more careful to protect one’s soul than one’s body.
Mishaberach
May God send him/her, speedily,
a complete healing —
healing of the soul and healing of the body (refuat hanefesh v’refuat haguf)
along with all the ill,
among the people of Israel and all humankind,
soon,
speedily,
without delay,
and let us all say: Amen!
What is a complete healing?
(18) You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your countrymen. Love your fellow as yourself: I am the LORD.
We see many examples of biblical characters, in the Torah and among the prophets, who struggled.
(15) Nathan went home, and the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and it became critically ill. (16) David entreated God for the boy; David fasted, and he went in and spent the night lying on the ground. (17) The senior servants of his household tried to induce him to get up from the ground; but he refused, nor would he partake of food with them. (18) On the seventh day the child died. David’s servants were afraid to tell David that the child was dead; for they said, “We spoke to him when the child was alive and he wouldn’t listen to us; how can we tell him that the child is dead? He might do something terrible.” (19) When David saw his servants talking in whispers, David understood that the child was dead; David asked his servants, “Is the child dead?” “Yes,” they replied. (20)
Thereupon David rose from the ground; he bathed and anointed himself, and he changed his clothes. He went into the House of the LORD and prostrated himself. Then he went home and asked for food, which they set before him, and he ate. (21) His courtiers asked him, “Why have you acted in this manner? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept; but now that the child is dead, you rise and take food!” (22) He replied, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept because I thought: ‘Who knows? The LORD may have pity on me, and the child may live.’ (23) But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will never come back to me.”
What emotions does this story elicit in you?
How do you imagine you might act similarly or differently than David?
(1) A psalm of David. (2) O LORD, do not punish me in wrath;
do not chastise me in fury. (3) For Your arrows have struck me;
Your blows have fallen upon me. (4) There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your rage,
no wholeness in my bones because of my sin. (5) For my iniquities have overwhelmed me;-b
they are like a heavy burden, more than I can bear. (6) My wounds stink and fester
because of my folly. (7) I am all bent and bowed;
I walk about in gloom all day long. (8) For my sinews are full of fever;
there is no soundness in my flesh. (9) I am all benumbed and crushed;
I roar because of the turmoil in my mind.
(10) O Lord, You are aware of all my entreaties;
my groaning is not hidden from You. (11) My mind reels;
my strength fails me;
my eyes too have lost their luster. (12) My friends and companions stand back from my affliction;
my kinsmen stand far off. (13) Those who seek my life lay traps;
those who wish me harm speak malice;
they utter deceit all the time. (14) But I am like a deaf man, unhearing,
like a dumb man who cannot speak up; (15) I am like one who does not hear,
who has no retort on his lips. (16) But I wait for You, O LORD;
You will answer, O Lord, my God. (17) For I fear they will rejoice over me;
when my foot gives way they will vaunt themselves against me. (18) For I am on the verge of collapse;
my pain is always with me. (19) I acknowledge my iniquity;
I am fearful over my sin; (20) for my mortal enemies are numerous;
my treacherous foes are many. (21) Those who repay evil for good
harass me for pursuing good. (22) Do not abandon me, O LORD;
my God, be not far from me; (23) hasten to my aid,
O Lord, my deliverance.
What is the purpose of including this psalm in our sacred Jewish texts?
(1) When Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had put all the prophets to the sword, (2) Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “Thus and more may the gods do-b if by this time tomorrow I have not made you like one of them.” (3) Frightened, he fled at once for his life. He came to Beer-sheba, which is in Judah, and left his servant there; (4) he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush and sat down under it, and prayed that he might die. “Enough!” he cried. “Now, O LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers.”
What is Elijah feeling in this moment?
When have you felt something similar?
(ד) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָ֔ה הַהֵיטֵ֖ב חָ֥רָה לָֽךְ׃ (ה) וַיֵּצֵ֤א יוֹנָה֙ מִן־הָעִ֔יר וַיֵּ֖שֶׁב מִקֶּ֣דֶם לָעִ֑יר וַיַּ֩עַשׂ֩ ל֨וֹ שָׁ֜ם סֻכָּ֗ה וַיֵּ֤שֶׁב תַּחְתֶּ֙יהָ֙ בַּצֵּ֔ל עַ֚ד אֲשֶׁ֣ר יִרְאֶ֔ה מַה־יִּהְיֶ֖ה בָּעִֽיר׃ (ו) וַיְמַ֣ן יְהֹוָֽה־אֱ֠לֹהִ֠ים קִיקָי֞וֹן וַיַּ֣עַל ׀ מֵעַ֣ל לְיוֹנָ֗ה לִֽהְי֥וֹת צֵל֙ עַל־רֹאשׁ֔וֹ לְהַצִּ֥יל ל֖וֹ מֵרָֽעָת֑וֹ וַיִּשְׂמַ֥ח יוֹנָ֛ה עַל־הַקִּֽיקָי֖וֹן שִׂמְחָ֥ה גְדוֹלָֽה׃ (ז) וַיְמַ֤ן הָֽאֱלֹהִים֙ תּוֹלַ֔עַת בַּעֲל֥וֹת הַשַּׁ֖חַר לַֽמׇּחֳרָ֑ת וַתַּ֥ךְ אֶת־הַקִּֽיקָי֖וֹן וַיִּיבָֽשׁ׃ (ח) וַיְהִ֣י ׀ כִּזְרֹ֣חַ הַשֶּׁ֗מֶשׁ וַיְמַ֨ן אֱלֹהִ֜ים ר֤וּחַ קָדִים֙ חֲרִישִׁ֔ית וַתַּ֥ךְ הַשֶּׁ֛מֶשׁ עַל־רֹ֥אשׁ יוֹנָ֖ה וַיִּתְעַלָּ֑ף וַיִּשְׁאַ֤ל אֶת־נַפְשׁוֹ֙ לָמ֔וּת וַיֹּ֕אמֶר ט֥וֹב מוֹתִ֖י מֵחַיָּֽי׃ (ט) וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֱלֹהִים֙ אֶל־יוֹנָ֔ה הַהֵיטֵ֥ב חָרָֽה־לְךָ֖ עַל־הַקִּֽיקָי֑וֹן וַיֹּ֕אמֶר הֵיטֵ֥ב חָֽרָה־לִ֖י עַד־מָֽוֶת׃
(3) Please, LORD, take my life, for I would rather die than live.” (4) The LORD replied, “Are you that deeply grieved?” (5) Now Jonah had left the city and found a place east of the city. He made a booth there and sat under it in the shade, until he should see what happened to the city. (6) The LORD God provided a ricinus plant, which grew up over Jonah, to provide shade for his head and save him from discomfort. Jonah was very happy about the plant. (7) But the next day at dawn God provided a worm, which attacked the plant so that it withered. (8) And when the sun rose, God provided a sultry east wind; the sun beat down on Jonah’s head, and he became faint. He begged for death, saying, “I would rather die than live.” (9) Then God said to Jonah, “Are you so deeply grieved about the plant?” “Yes,” he replied, “so deeply that I want to die.”
What has anger or resentment driven you or someone you know to do?
(11) Why did I not die at birth,
Expire as I came forth from the womb?
And trouble came.
I will give rein to my complaint,
Speak in the bitterness of my soul.
It sweeps away my honor like the wind;
My dignity vanishes like a cloud. (16) So now my life runs out;
Days of misery have taken hold of me. (17) By night my bones feel gnawed;
My sinews never rest.
(6) Moreover, her rival, to make her miserable, would taunt her that the LORD had closed her womb. (7) This happened-c year after year: Every time she went up to the House of the LORD, the other would taunt her, so that she wept and would not eat.
(8) Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Hannah, why are you crying and why aren’t you eating? Why are you so sad? Am I not more devoted to you than ten sons?” (9) After they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose.—The priest Eli was sitting on the seat near the doorpost of the temple of the LORD.— (10) In her wretchedness, she prayed to the LORD, weeping all the while. (11) And she made this vow: “O LORD of Hosts, if You will look upon the suffering of Your maidservant and will remember me and not forget Your maidservant, and if You will grant Your maidservant a male child, I will dedicate him to the LORD for all the days of his life; and no razor shall ever touch his head.” (12) As she kept on praying before the LORD, Eli watched her mouth. (13) Now Hannah was praying in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was drunk.
(14) Now the spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD began to terrify him. (15) Saul’s courtiers said to him, “An evil spirit of God is terrifying you. (16) Let our lord give the order [and] the courtiers in attendance on you will look for someone who is skilled at playing the lyre; whenever the evil spirit of God comes over you, he will play it and you will feel better.”
That I was born!
Let not the day be blessed
When my mother bore me!
To see misery and woe,
To spend all my days in shame!
Jeremiah suffered from constant rejection by the people he loved and reached out to. God had called him to preach, yet forbidden him to marry and have children. He lived alone, he ministered alone, he was poor, ridiculed, and rejected by his people. In the midst of it, he displayed great spiritual faith and strength, and yet we also see his honesty as he wrestled with despair and a great sense of failure:
Jacob: Struggle
"Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn." Gen. 32:25
"The years of my sojourn [on earth] are one hundred and thirty. Few and hard have been the years of my life, nor do they come up to the life spans of my fathers during their sojourns." Gen. 47:9
Why do you think the Biblical Characters have so many mental health challenges?
What can we learn from these stories?
רבי יוחנן חלש, על לגביה רבי חנינא. אמר ליה: חביבין עליך יסורין? אמר ליה: לא הן ולא שכרן. אמר ליה: הב לי ידך! יהב ליה ידיה ואוקמיה. אמאי? לוקים רבי יוחנןלנפשיה! - אמרי: אין חבוש מתיר עצמו מבית האסורים.
TB Berachot 5b
R. Johanan once fell ill and R. Hanina went in to visit him. He said to him: Are your sufferings welcome to you? He replied: Neither they nor their reward. He said to him: Give me your hand. He gave him his hand and he raised him. Why could not R. Johanan raise himself? — They replied: The prisoner cannot free himself from jail.
From ritualwell.org
A Prayer of Healing for Mental Illness
By Rabbi Elliot Kukla
May the One who blessed our ancestors bless all who live with mental illness, our care-givers, families, and friends. May we walk in the footsteps of Jacob, King Saul, Miriam, Hannah, and Naomi who struggled with dark moods, hopelessness, isolation, and terrors, but survived and led our people. Just as our father, Jacob, spent the night wrestling with an angel and prevailed, may all who live with mental illness be granted the endurance to wrestle with pain and prevail night upon night. Grace us with the faith to know that though, like Jacob, we may be wounded, shaped and renamed by this struggle, still we will live on to continue an ever unfolding, unpredictable path toward healing. May we not be alone on this path but accompanied by our families, friends, care-givers, ancestors, and the Divine presence. Surround us with loving-kindness, grace and companionship and spread over us a sukkat shalom, a shelter of peace and wholeness. And let us say: Amen.
Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, a leading Jewish thinker on writer on Musssar -- a Jewish ethical movement focused on moral conduct and self-reflection of our own behaviors and tendencies -- explains his view on mental health in simple terms.
אולם, ידיעה זו לבדה, כי התחלפות ימי
האהבה וימי השנאה דבר טבעי הוא – בכוחה
להפיג הרבה מן היאוש והעצבות.
The very knowledge of the fact that it is
natural to have good days and bad days
has the power to assuage a lot of despair
and sadness.
Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe, Alei Shur, Vol. I pg. 35
Jewish thinkers have competing views on the role of sadness and anxiety. Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (c. 18th cen.) believes that a sense of lacking is a perpetual part of the human condition, while the writers of the Gemara (technical commentary on Jewish law c. 3rd century CE) in more ancient times themselves have competing views between banishing anxiety from within ones self to sharing concerns with another in seeking solidarity.
Struggle with your sadness, [Rabbi Nachman] says, struggle with your soul....The point is not to rid oneself of struggle, but to accept it as a condition of being human. We are not meant to prevail. We must make room in the soul for an existential condition of lack.
Rabbi Nachman, The Gate of Tears: Sadness and the Spiritual Path
(משלי יב, כה) דאגה בלב איש ישחנה
רבי אמי ורבי אסי,
חד אמר: ישחנה מדעתו
וחד אמר: ישיחנה לאחרים
The Gemara explains another verse in Proverbs: “If there is anxiety in a man’s heart, let him quash it [yashḥena]” (Proverbs 12:25). Rabbi Ami and Rabbi Asi dispute the verse’s meaning. One said: He should forcefully push it [yasḥena] out of his mind. One who worries should banish his concerns from his thoughts. And one said: It means he should tell [yesiḥena] others his concerns, which will lower his anxiety.
Gemara Targum Mishlei 12:25
בַּבֹּ֤קֶר תֹּאמַר֙ מִֽי־יִתֵּ֣ן עֶ֔רֶב וּבָעֶ֥רֶב תֹּאמַ֖ר מִֽי־יִתֵּ֣ן בֹּ֑קֶר מִפַּ֤חַד לְבָֽבְךָ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּפְחָ֔ד וּמִמַּרְאֵ֥ה עֵינֶ֖יךָ אֲשֶׁ֥ר תִּרְאֶֽה׃
In the morning you shall say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening you shall say, “If only it were morning!”—because of what your heart shall dread and your eyes shall see.
(א) חמשה כחות כלליים שצריכים להיות מושגחים שיהיו שלמים בחיי הכלל והפרט, ואז ימצא בהם הכח המתאים להרחקת כל פגע ולהפרחת החיים בדרך נכונה. הא׳ בריאות הגוף והנפש בתור בעל חיים שלם ועלז בחיים....
(1) There are five general forces that need to be tended to so that they should be whole in the life of the collective and the individual. Then, appropriate force will be found in them to keep all damage at a distance to enhance life in the appropriate way. The first is physical and mental health leading to a full and joyous embracing of life...